Wildlife trust encourages graveyard wildlife initiative

The Somerset Wildlife Trust is encouraging church communities across the West Somerset region to take part in a wildlife initiative, ‘Wilder Churches’, to make use of churchyards and burial grounds. 

Wilder Churches, which was started in 2021 as a partnership between the trust and Diocese of Bath and Wells, aims to support faith communities to get to know nature in their local churchyard, other church land, or burial ground. 

The initiative also aims to find ways to increase the value of wildlife in these spaces through community engagement.

Pippa Rayner, nature co-ordinator who is working with the trust, said: “Churchyards are often the oldest enclosed piece of land in a parish and many still support a rich variety of wildflowers and wildlife, having remained unscathed from the widespread loss of habitats seen in the wider countryside due to changing land management practices.

“The Diocese of Bath and Wells oversees 477 parishes of over 900,000 people in the county and are working with us to bring communities and church leaders together to learn more about their churchyard or burial ground and how they can manage them with wildlife in mind.”